Equiano Douglas

The narratives of Frederick Douglass and Thomas Equiano both offer insight into the African and African-American experiences prior to the Civil War. While both Douglass and Equiano can both easily be classified as abolitionists, their approach to abolitionism and political activism via literature differs significantly. One of the main reasons why Douglass and Equiano differ in their approach is that they wrote during completely different time periods: Equiano nearly a century prior to Douglass. Equiano's perspective therefore focuses more on the trans-Atlantic slave trade and even on slavery in Africa. Douglass's narrative was penned after the Fugitive Slave Act and the Compromise of 1850 had been passed. Moreover, the two men had completely different life stories: which are recounted in their respective autobiographies. These autobiographies form the basis for scholarship on African-American history, literature, and politics.

Newman puts Douglass into a historical perspective of the history of black...
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